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Young People and Prison:
The Facts
How many children and young people are in prison?
There are 11,133 prisoners under the age of 21 in England and Wales (1).
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Children (under 17's) in prison
There are 2,320 15 to 17 year olds in prison and 233 in Secure Training Centres. In addition to this there are 213 10-14 year olds locked up in Local Authority Secure Childrens' Homes (2).
The number of 15 to 17 year olds in prison has doubled in the last 10 years.
What is the youngest age you can be locked up?
Despite the requirement of international law that prison should be a last resort for children, children as young as 12 can now be jailed, if they commit an offence which would be punishable by prison if committed by an adult. Following the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998, the Home Secretary has the power to lower the age of detention to 10 years old.
What crimes are they sentenced for?
Almost half the children in prison have been convicted of non-violent offences. More children are in prison for robbery than any other offence (3).
Sentencing for children is becoming harsher - in 1992 only 100 children under 15 were sentenced to custody, all had committed what were defined as 'grave crimes'. In 2003/4 794 under 15s were imprisoned, yet only 45 of these had committed the same definition of 'grave crimes'. (4)
How much does it cost?
It costs £50,800 per year to send someone to a Young Offenders Institution, £164,750 to send a child to a Secure Training Centre and £185,780 to place a child in a Local Authority Secure Children's Home (5).
Are they safe there?
29 children have died in state custody since 1990, most self inflicted but one following restraint (7) . Adam Rickwood became the youngest child to die in penal custody at the age of 14 in August 2004. There has never been a public inquiry into any of these deaths.
Does it work?
Reconviction rates are extremely high for children. Over eight out of ten boys under 18 who were released from prison were reconvicted within two years. (8)
What kind of children are in prison?
Of those in custody of school age, over one in four has literacy and numeracy levels of an average seven year old. Over half of under 18s have been in care and almost half have been permanently been excluded from school (9)
Of prisoners aged 16-29, around 85% show signs of a personality disorder and 10% exhibit signs of psychotic illness e.g. schizophrenia (10). Over half of 16-20 year olds who are locked up say they were dependent on drugs or alcohol in the year prior to imprisonment (11)
One in three girls have been subjected to sexual abuse, and one in four have experienced violence at home. (12)
Just over one in three young people who are locked up say they have felt unsafe at some time in their custody.(13)
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Young people (18-20 year olds) in prison
There are 8,658 young people in prison (14)
In the last ten years the number of sentenced young adults entering prison has increased by 40% and the number of sentenced young women imprisoned has almost trebled. (15)
How long are they there for?
Two thirds are sentenced to less than 12 months in custody. The average time spent in custody for young adult prisoners is just over 8 weeks. (16)
How far are they from home?
One in three are held more than 50 miles away from home, one in four are held between 50 and 100 miles away and one in ten are held over 100 miles away. (17)
What kinds of young adults are in prison?
75% of those held in young offenders' institutions have not attended school beyond the age of 13. Just under 1/3 have basic skills deficits (compared to ¼ aged 25 and over). Nearly ¾ were excluded from school at some stage, and 2/3 were unemployed at the time of their arrest. (18)
Mental health problems and drug and alcohol abuse are common amongst young people in prison. They are more likely than adults to suffer from mental health problems and more likely to attempt or commit suicide than both older and younger prisoners. (19)
What happens to young people after they leave prison?
The Chief Inspector of Prisons estimated that one in five young prisoners had no idea where they would live on release. (20)
Does it work?
Re-conviction rates are particularly high for young people. Nearly 8 out of 10 young men released from prison in 2002 were reconvicted within 2 years of release. (21)
Who else is affected?
It is estimated that one in four young male offenders are fathers and four in ten young females are mothers (22)
What's the best way to reduce offending?
Instead of building more prisons for young people, the government should invest in tackling the causes of their offending by providing:
References
The Facts
How many children and young people are in prison?
There are 11,133 prisoners under the age of 21 in England and Wales (1).
____________________________________
Children (under 17's) in prison
There are 2,320 15 to 17 year olds in prison and 233 in Secure Training Centres. In addition to this there are 213 10-14 year olds locked up in Local Authority Secure Childrens' Homes (2).
The number of 15 to 17 year olds in prison has doubled in the last 10 years.
What is the youngest age you can be locked up?
Despite the requirement of international law that prison should be a last resort for children, children as young as 12 can now be jailed, if they commit an offence which would be punishable by prison if committed by an adult. Following the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998, the Home Secretary has the power to lower the age of detention to 10 years old.
What crimes are they sentenced for?
Almost half the children in prison have been convicted of non-violent offences. More children are in prison for robbery than any other offence (3).
Sentencing for children is becoming harsher - in 1992 only 100 children under 15 were sentenced to custody, all had committed what were defined as 'grave crimes'. In 2003/4 794 under 15s were imprisoned, yet only 45 of these had committed the same definition of 'grave crimes'. (4)
How much does it cost?
It costs £50,800 per year to send someone to a Young Offenders Institution, £164,750 to send a child to a Secure Training Centre and £185,780 to place a child in a Local Authority Secure Children's Home (5).
Are they safe there?
29 children have died in state custody since 1990, most self inflicted but one following restraint (7) . Adam Rickwood became the youngest child to die in penal custody at the age of 14 in August 2004. There has never been a public inquiry into any of these deaths.
Does it work?
Reconviction rates are extremely high for children. Over eight out of ten boys under 18 who were released from prison were reconvicted within two years. (8)
What kind of children are in prison?
Of those in custody of school age, over one in four has literacy and numeracy levels of an average seven year old. Over half of under 18s have been in care and almost half have been permanently been excluded from school (9)
Of prisoners aged 16-29, around 85% show signs of a personality disorder and 10% exhibit signs of psychotic illness e.g. schizophrenia (10). Over half of 16-20 year olds who are locked up say they were dependent on drugs or alcohol in the year prior to imprisonment (11)
One in three girls have been subjected to sexual abuse, and one in four have experienced violence at home. (12)
Just over one in three young people who are locked up say they have felt unsafe at some time in their custody.(13)
____________________________________
Young people (18-20 year olds) in prison
There are 8,658 young people in prison (14)
In the last ten years the number of sentenced young adults entering prison has increased by 40% and the number of sentenced young women imprisoned has almost trebled. (15)
How long are they there for?
Two thirds are sentenced to less than 12 months in custody. The average time spent in custody for young adult prisoners is just over 8 weeks. (16)
How far are they from home?
One in three are held more than 50 miles away from home, one in four are held between 50 and 100 miles away and one in ten are held over 100 miles away. (17)
What kinds of young adults are in prison?
75% of those held in young offenders' institutions have not attended school beyond the age of 13. Just under 1/3 have basic skills deficits (compared to ¼ aged 25 and over). Nearly ¾ were excluded from school at some stage, and 2/3 were unemployed at the time of their arrest. (18)
Mental health problems and drug and alcohol abuse are common amongst young people in prison. They are more likely than adults to suffer from mental health problems and more likely to attempt or commit suicide than both older and younger prisoners. (19)
What happens to young people after they leave prison?
The Chief Inspector of Prisons estimated that one in five young prisoners had no idea where they would live on release. (20)
Does it work?
Re-conviction rates are particularly high for young people. Nearly 8 out of 10 young men released from prison in 2002 were reconvicted within 2 years of release. (21)
Who else is affected?
It is estimated that one in four young male offenders are fathers and four in ten young females are mothers (22)
What's the best way to reduce offending?
Instead of building more prisons for young people, the government should invest in tackling the causes of their offending by providing:
- More constructive activities for young people
- More support to improve parenting
- More mental health, drug and alcohol treatment in the community
- Improved community punishments where young offenders do compulsory work to pay back for the damage they have caused
References
- Prison Population and Accommodation Briefing Apr 2006
- Population in custody - Feb 2006
- Ibid
- http://www.inquest.org.uk
- House of Commons July 2004 - Youth Offending:the delivery of community and custodial sentences
- http://www.inquest.org.uk
- Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004
- Youth Justice Board, 2003
- Singleton et al 2003, Psychiatric Morbidity in Young Offenders in England and Wales
- Ibid
- Social Exclusion Unit 2002
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Juveniles in Custody, 2003-4
- Population in custody - Feb 2006
- Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2003
- Solomon 2004 A lost generation: the experiences of young people in Prison - Prison Reform Trust
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Singleton et al 2003, Psychiatric Morbidity in Young Offenders in England and Wales
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons 19997 - Young People, a thematic Review
- Home Office 2005 - results from the 2002 cohort
- Young Voice (2001) Parenting under pressure
